MASLOC targets improving rural businesses

The Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) says its operational agenda for next year will be to focus on improving rural livelihood through disbursement of funds to support value-chain production activities in the agro-processing and fishing sectors.

 

Mrs. Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, Chief Executive Officer told B&FT: “We want to change the retail programmes into more production and farming projects.

“Communal groupings like the gari processing, palm oil production, dressmaking as well as adding value to the agricultural value chain are the progammes that we want to focus on next year.

“MASLOC will provide support to economic activities in the agro-processing sector to make them viable and sustainable.”

Mrs. Attionu made this statement in Accra after presenting 15 brand-new salon cars to the Western regional branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union to boost the transport businesses in the region as part of the Centre’s vehicle scheme. 

She indicated that the Centre will continue to provide microcredit facilities to small businesses, especially women, to accelerate employment-creation and income-generation.

She disclosed that the scheme -- which seeks to partner companies that are ready to fund the cost of farm inputs, agro-processing machineries and sewing machines for hire-purchase by qualified beneficiaries -- has yielded positive results.

The Centre’s programmes include: a vehicle scheme, group loan scheme, individual loan scheme; special projects like the outboard motors as well as fishing nets projects are being strengthened to mainly target the productive poor and vulnerable in society -- including women who are engaged in micro- and small-scale businesses to help reduce poverty and create employment and wealth.

She said the funds are to alleviate poverty among the rural people: “We are in constant talks with the District Assemblies and the Regional Coordinating Councils to ensure that funds are available to be accessed.

“We have tackled almost all the areas we are supposed to: such as food crop production, agro-processing, poultry, livestock, fishing, and farming inputs.”

Explaining the Centre’s recovery rate, Mrs. Attionu said: “The management adopted a multi-faceted loan recovery and prudent approach to salvage the loans which has yielded a 99.5 percent recovery rate. Management is committed toward sustaining the recovery efforts.

“Our recovery rate with the GPRTU Volta Region is about 99.5 percent, which is about the highest; but we don’t want to channel too much funds into those areas because our focus is to improve rural livelihoods.

“Once the groups are repaying the loans, we can be able safeguard our capital and earn some interest since it’s a revolving fund,” she said.

Early this year, the scheme estimated disbursing about GH¢68million as loans to beneficiaries. The Centre between August 2010 and August 2012 disbursed approximately GH¢34million in microcredit facilities directly and indirectly to about 71,000 beneficiary groups and individuals.

MASLOC was created under the Office of the President with the objective of supporting government’s programme of sustainable poverty reduction as indicated in the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy. It provides micro-credit and small loans to the productive poor of the population.

MASLOC was introduced in 2004 by the previous government in conjunction with the World Bank, launching nine new regional offices by September 2006 with seed money of US$50million toward establishment of a Micro Credit Fund to provide capital for Ghana’s micro-finance initiatives.

Under the Scheme, individuals, groups and businesses were eligible to apply for loans between GH¢100,000 and GH¢250,000.

Groups need to have a minimum of five and maximum of 25 members to access up to GH¢250,000.

Each member of the group can access GH¢10,000, refundable within one year with 10% interest.
Other categories can access loans from GH¢20,000 to GH¢250,000 attract the going Bank of Ghana prime interest rate.